dinner on the patio

After we got home from vacation we were able to have our first meal on the new patio. It is really nice eating outside except on the hottest days. I love the new patio and thanks to Harry for having it done!

Seth's fourth birthday

I'm finally posting the last of our vacation pictures. We stopped at Beccy and Andrew's on the way home. Andrew's parents came down for the weekend so that we could celebrate Seth's birthday early. He wanted a frog birthday, so Beccy did a wonderful job of creating frog birthday party. The decorations were green, we all wore frog tattoos and Beccy made a great frog cake. Seth even had a frog shirt to wear. He picked out the food. I think I remember hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, jello, frozen peas and fruit salad. Not a bad menu for a small boy. Here are some pictures. We wanted to go to the zoo, but it was a free day there and we couldn't even park, so we wound up going to a tiny amusement park where the boys played while the big girls shopped at the nearby outlet center. What a great place! I even got a new dress for an upcoming wedding. It was a great end to an enjoyable vacation.

Cripple Creek

My grandmother grew up in Cripple Creek, Colorado, on the back side of Pike's Peak. It was a gold rush town in the 1890s. Her folks had a general store. I hadn't been there since we went when I was a teenager, so I talked Russ and Deb and Abby into going with us to see it. I wasn't sure just what we would find, but I thought it might be fun to see if we could find where the store was. At first we didn't have much luck, but Russ found a poster in the room behind the museum store about a moving sale for the Adam's Dry Goods Company, and it gave the address where the new store was. We found it, although the whole block is now a casino. It's name is the Midnight Rose (which Deb pointed out is a whole lot better than the name of the one next door, the Brass Ass). Here is a picture of the store. It was fun for me to imagine the place where Grandmother grew up. Her house had been razed, but we saw the street. It was very steep and must have been a bear to play ball on. Abby's kids were great sports especially when we found an ice cream parlor. I'm glad we went.

Barbecue part 2

Here are some more pictures from the barbecue. The first one is of Hannah (back) and Audrey (front) ready to go in the new outfits Greg brought them from Bermuda.

The second is Harry and Isaac getting ready.

The third is of my niece Debra, Abby and Audrey, Debra's husband Ethan with Anna. Christa (my nephew Todd's wife) and her youngest Erick, and Isaac.

The last picture is of my Aunt Sherrie and her son Phil.

Family barbecue

We had a family get together in Denver. It was great to see family again, especially my niece Becky and her daughter Sarah. I will probably have to make two posts to get in all the pictures. Here are a few.

The first picture is me with Leah and Sarah with Hannah.

The second is Harry with Anna and Audrey.

The third one is Dottie and me. Do we look like sisters?

Harry (with Audrey and Anna, Sarah (with Hannah), my niece Becky (her daughter Sarah is camera shy),Beth and my sister-in-law Deb are in the last picture.

Colorado mountains

We loved our time in the mountains. Harry and I visited Steamboat Springs. There is a wonderful waterfall
there. A lovely young lady took a picture of Harry and me. Our best surprise there was the botanic gardens right in the middle of town. They must have wonderful gardeners in Steamboat Springs. I am also including a picture of Harry with Abby and Pete's kids on the stairs at the condo. They had a lot of
fun. Harry is really getting into the idea of seeing the grandkids! Top to bottom they are: Leah Seidel, Hannah Leonard, Anna Seidel, and Audrey Leonard in Harry's lap, Beth Seidel, and Isaac Leonard. As you can see, 9 month old Anna is as big as her 16 month old cousins. She also learned to balance on her knees this trip and is now walking.